Sunday, September 23, 2007

We spent Friday night this weekend enjoying the cooler temperatures at a gorgeous Missouri State Park south of St. Louis. It was Kate's birthday, and a group of the (our former) Singles Ward got together to celebrate with tents, Coleman stoves, camp stools, and fresh air.While sleeping on the hard ground was a little tricky for me at this point in my life, as was the having to go to the bathroom every four minutes, Joe and I LOVED it. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect night to do it, and it was nice to get out of town for a little while.

Tonight, we get to have authentic Korean food because Mom Vicki is making us dinner, and her 1 1/2 years in Seoul has given her some new skills! We've had so much fun with her being in town for the past week, and we're glad she's still around for one more week before heading back to the other side of the world. And Noah seems to recognize that his Grandma is around-- he moved around BIG TIME for her the other day... as if he knew she'd be going away again soon and he had to perform now or forever hold his peace!!

Saturday, September 15, 2007

(click picture for a larger version)

And actually, my mother-in-law is going to be helping me with the sewing thing. She is much better at it, and has been feeling out-of-the baby loop since living in Korea, and since she is in town for the next two weeks, she has been gracious enough to offer her help!!

I am so excited!

It all began when this girl inspired me.... Amy Furstenau. I mean, can it get any cooler than HER bedding???? I saw her blog post about her mom making her bedding and the wheels in my own mind began turning. Why go with a more expensive, store-bought set when I could custom-design my own style of things?

With Amy's, I love the fancy, feminine, high-style look of her fabric combos. I pretty much covet them. But since I am having a boy, not a girl, I decided to go for more vintage-y fun. I found some amazing fabric by Moda and Michael Miller, among others, and found that the dot/stripe combo I have been looking to create was coming together in a red/green/yellow combo. (Originally, I was going to go for a turquoise/orange/green/yellow thing...)

Here is another crib set that inspired me a bit:

And this one, from Target:And here are the individual swatches of fabric we are using in my design combo atop this entry:

At the end of third lunch today, I was in the girl’s bathroom on the second floor, near the English Department Center. A student and two of her friends were in there, talking, but left shortly after I entered. While I was washing my hands, the second girl involved in the fight entered the bathroom, followed by just Student#1. At first, I paid them no attention. I thought they were friends having a normal conversation. Within a few seconds, though, it became clear to me that there was tension between them. I stepped up to Student#1, who I have in class, and asked her what was going on. She began bad-mouthing the other girl, who I moved in front of to physically block. The bad-mouthing only came from Student#1, and soon escalated to swearing. Student#1's two friends entered the bathroom, took one look at me, and told her that she’d better stop swearing in front of a teacher. The girl behind me still said nothing. Student#1 paid no attention to her friends’ advice and continued to use foul language in front of me. I warned her that she needed to stop, and that I could get her in trouble for swearing in front of a teacher but that I didn’t want to have to do that. I encouraged her to turn away and walk out. Her friend told her she could get written up and she said, “F** that. What does that matter to me?” Her friends began pulling on her arms to get her out of the bathroom, laughing nervously, and it looked like they were going to succeed. At this point, while there was tension, Student#1 wasn’t physically moving in to fight. Neither was the other girl. When enough room was between the two girls, I turned to the other girl and asked her to come with me. I told her she wasn’t in trouble, but that I wanted to get her away from Student#1, and she needed to follow me. We exited the bathroom together while Student#1’s two friends continued to hold her arms and ask her to stop.

Once in the hallway, I took the other girl to the stairwell just outside the restroom and brought her to a corner out of sight of the bathroom. I was just beginning to tell her that I was proud of her for not rising to Student#1’s comments and that we would go down to the office together to report Student#1, when Student#1 charged up from behind me, reached around me, and attacked the girl. She knowingly initiated the physical fight with me right there, putting me in physical harm as well. At that point, the other girl fought back to defend herself. Student#1’s two friends charged into the fray, but only to continue trying to pull her away from the girl. At this point, I ceased trying to intervene, knowing I was not physically able to do anything to break it up. I yelled down both directions of the hallway for teachers, then stuck my head into the English Department Center to ask for assistance. When I returned to the fight, other teachers had arrived on-scene. The other girl was pulled off of Student#1, who was being held on the floor by her two friends. Other kids in the area were backed off, not contributing or egging it on.

At this point, the second girl, while being held by two male teachers, tried to dive back in and get a hold of Student#1, but was prevented. Both girls were escorted separately to the office and I went along to give this report verbally to the Principal.

In addition to the fighting, I would like to reiterate that Student#1 willingly used extremely foul language in my presence multiple times and willingly attacked the other girl in my presence, putting me, a teacher, in harm’s way. (I am also 7 months pregnant, which Student#1 is aware of.) I am, therefore, not comfortable with the idea of Student#1 returning to my classroom. If she can so blatantly disregard my authority and put me in harm’s way without a second thought, I don’t trust her ability to maintain herself throughout the rest of our time together.

***

Ahh... Adventures in teaching...Needless to say, I was a bit rattled, had a bit of a cry to shake off the adrenaline rush, then went back to my class (which was being supervised by a co-worker) and carried on. Now it just makes a good story.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

As of next Monday, Joe and I will have been married for three years. Three years! In some ways, it feels like we have always been together. In other ways, it feels like just yesterday that he was asking me out. I can't believe we are on our way to being an old married couple.

Most days, Joe is the first and last thing I think of. We have managed to work out a symbiotic, interdependent life where each of us boosts and helps the other and we work as a team. I love to focus on him, dote on him, snuggle with him, and have him with me. So it's strange to think that this little, moving lump inside my belly is going to shift all of that. In less than three months, this blog will begin having disgustingly large quantities of photos of my beautiful baby. Stories about my baby. Questions and ponderings about my baby.

What about Joe?He is my favorite and I want so very much to make sure he knows that, even when our son arrives. It's kinda like Lady and the Tramp, ya know? When the baby arrives and Lady is left out in the cold... even gets a muzzle? (No, we didn't register for a muzzle for Joe on the baby registry.)

I hope I can remember to still tell him all the sweet things I love to say to him now. I hope that he can see what I am doing for our child and take it as an additional form of love for him and for our son. I hope that as we figure out the new alchemy of our relationship, that we only grow fonder and more familiar with each other.

Three years next week. I am so lucky to have this man. I am so blessed by his patience, his flexibility, his generosity, his French crepe-making, his childlike excitement for many things, his willingness to let me be the extreme personality that I am, his support of my talents and passions, his great hair, his quiet spirituality, his support of all the late-stage pregnancy randomness, his footrubs, his laugh, his good gift-giving, his hairy forearms, his amazing family, his entertaining stories, his ability to adapt to any situation, his smooches....

Saturday, September 8, 2007

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

{all the loot}

{sock monkey slippers!!}

{just one example of the clever, funny notes pinned to each item}

{the focus of the package: mommy stuff!}

So my dear dear friend Genny, one of my bessiest bessies since high school, surprised me with this bounteous care package today in the mail. It was like Christmas, opening the box and finding ALL SORTS of treasure complete with notes attached to each item. Chocolates, cold cereal (my constant craving!!), baby socks, sock monkey puppets, MAGAZINES, fun pens, a "choose your own adventure" book done in Jane Austen style, Burt's Bee's Mama stuff, other treats, and on and on...

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Family and friends galore this weekend-- beginning with bro and sis-in-law Steven and Tamara coming to St. Louis Friday evening. We went to dinner, then met up with Elise (driving in from Indiana), Beckie, and Kyle (driving in from Kansas with his pug Belle). We had a fun evening of games and laughing til we wet our pants.... (You had to be there, but it involved a lengthy discussion of placenta-eating.)

Saturday brought Mom, Dad and Kirsti to town, and we all continued the fun with a trip to the Boathouse in Forest Park for a paddle boat ride and a yummy lakeside dinner.

Sunday was more family time, with Mom, Dad, Kirsti, and Elise spending the night on Saturday and going to church with Joe and I on Sunday. We has a picnic in Forest Park and played dominoes at Beckie's apartment later in the evening. Mom and Dad left that night, and Kirsti stayed.Monday, sister Sarah came to town, Kyle went back to Kansas (sad!!) and my four sisters and I went to the Mills Mall to do some outlet shopping. Joe stayed home and industriously worked on improving his score in World of Warcraft.By the time Monday evening arrived, everybody had driven back to their towns and I went home to a LOVELY foot bath/massage from Joe-- who is SO sweet to my swollen feet these days-- and a relaxing evening with him.

It was fun, to be sure, but this weekend was REALLY hectic and frenzied and busy. It is nice to have Joe to myself again, and a ton of fun memories to recall... in the peace and quiet of my now-empty home.

Thanks, all who came!! It was PERFECT.

***P.S. Thank you all who commented on my last post. It feels really reassuring to hear others' experiences and stories, and to be told that this is OKAY, normal, and not the end of the world. I feel better about my lethargy and my desire to do more. Also, to those of you who read just because, and aren't necessarily people I've met before, I LOVE HAVING YOU HERE!